Can you see it? 4.5 st/in (18st/4in) and perfect row gauge too, on 4.5mm needles! And it was a whole lot nicer to knit with, smoother, faster, better stitch definition, much more what I expect from Jo Sharp yarns*. There has obviously been some sort of manufacturing problem in Italy, which I imagine is giving Jo Sharp one hell of a headache, or will be soon. At least I no longer feel crazy/incompetent; however, two problems remain - I still don’t have yarn for Rogue and although I now know that it is possible to get gauge with Jo Sharp Aran Tweed I have no idea what dyelot this little swatch came from and even less idea how to find more non defective yarn. I have ordered the Rowan Magpie Tweed and I can use it for Rogue if I have to, but it is not the colour I want for this sweater. All I want is 13 good skeins of Aran Tweed in Posie, is that really too much to ask?

*Many thanks to Jo who offered me her scraps after yesterday’s post, it is such a relief to confirm that it really is the yarn and not me.

I just cannot get gauge with this yarn. Either it really is me or all the yarn manufactured around the same time is dodgy and I ma having really bad luck. I just ordered 10 skeins of Rowan Magpie Tweed in Brazil from Germany. If I haven’t sorted this out before it arrives then I will use it to make Rogue, if not 10 skeins will be heaps to make something else at some future point. Heck it could be enough to make Jesse something, though that is probably pushing it.

I really don’t know what to do about the Jo Sharp Aran Tweed though. The first lot was definitely wrong and both Wendy at Jo Sharp’s studio and the nice folks at The Needle Nook confirmed this. If I can’t get gauge with either the second lot of Posie or the Spring is it still the yarn or is it me? I am thinking of posting the two balls, with their swatches to Jo Sharp and asking if they are able to get gauge with those balls of yarn. It’s driving me nuts not knowing whether if I just did something better/differently this would all be ok or whether it really is the yarn. The Spring colour was much nicer/easier to knit with but it has still come out at pretty much 16st/4in. Every swatch I have done has clearly wanted to be knit up at 16st/4in.

Is it me? Is it the yarn? Once was bad luck, is twice to do with the dye lot numbers being worryingly close together or am I just incompetent? Ugh. I guess I will go buy a ball in a completely different colour tomorrow and see if I can get gauge with that before embarassing myself by calling Wendy at Jo Sharp again. Nothing like ending the evening on a low note.

I think I better order that Magpie Tweed.

Remeber this? Jo Sharp Silk Road Aran Tweed in Posie, this time dyelot 75. It looks different. I hope it knits up differently.

Can you believe that the yarn store owner delivered this to my door at 7:30 on a Friday night? How’s that for service!

My stitch marker swap had begun! First there was the arrival of these stunning markers from Jennifer. All I can say is WOW! Some close ups….

I just love that each set is on a different size ring and quite different in construction and yet they all seem to hold together too. I wish I could find such a variety of rings.

In other news I have been making a gazillion markers myself, both for the exchange and for a few other people I have promised makers too. There is a new set for me in there too, can you guess which ones?

You may have noticed a few of them are missing rings, I ran out of both sizes while making these last night. Jesse took the car to work this morning and the stroller with it, leaving us somewhat limited in our options for getting around, which forced us into visiting what may be the most expensive bead store in Sydney. I did buy some rings but they just weren’t big enough for all of markers. Getting the right rings seems to be my main problem with making makers. Hopefully I will sort this hurdle out tomorrow and be able to mail all the markers out on Monday.

Last night I had a lot of fun with these. I am so excited about the stitch marker swap!

We are home at last! Hat and scarf complete, with much washing, shopping, cleaning, injecting of IVF meds etc to be done.

Hat Pattern: El Hatto Negro,
Hat Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in colour 300105 (chocolate brown)
Hat Needles: US 4 & 6 Boye Needlemaster interchangeable needle and a set of the worst 4mm DPNs in the world.

Scarf Pattern: 34 stitches of 2*2 ribbing,
Scarf Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in colour 300105 (chocolate brown)
Scarf Needles: 5mm Addi circular

Read on to see all the photos of Jesse’s hat growing on the road home.

(There is more where this came from … )

Last night

This Morning

We drive off in about finve minutes, see you at the other end!

So now that I have the Jo Sharp/Rogue situation under control I find myself wondering if I should but the Magpie Tweed anyway. Budget wise I shouldn’t, but it felt like a miracle of some sort to find it in the first place and now it feels sad/strange to just walk away from what could a gorgeous sweater waiting to happen.

If I do buy it for the stash should I just get the 8 skeins that would be ample for Rogue in my size or should I try to get 10 just in case? I figure that Rogue is not the roomiest sweater ever but that hood must eat up a lot of yarn. I tend to think that enough yarn for Rogue may well be enough yarn for anything I am likely to want to make from it, assuming I use it for myself.

How many times will I get to say this and it be true? Perhaps just this once… Wendy at Jo Sharp’s studio couldn’t get gauge either and when I returned the yarn to The Needle Nook they had found an odd ball from a previous dye lot which was visibly very different yarn (apart from the colour). I can’t tell you how happy it made me to know that it really was the yarn that was defective and not my knitting!

The Needle Nook had only a few balls in the non-defective dyelot so I was unable to exchange it on the spot but The Wool Inn back in Sydney have had a delivery (in a good dye lot) since I last asked them about this yarn and they are now holding 14 balls for me. I should be swatching again by the end of the week, so all is well that ends well.

I can’t recommend either of these yarn stores enough, both have great ranges, good prices and wonderfully friendly and knowledgeable owners and they both do mail order.